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2009-11-21

2009-11-18

2009-11-05

Agriculture

Lifestyles

Monday, June 01, 2009 11:17 AM

Photo by Elliot J. Sutherland/The Ottawa Herald

Dean and Karen Register stand Thursday afternoon in the kitchen of their new home outside of Greeley. The Registers lost everything they had in a fire in December of 2008. They said they relied on family and community support to rebuild their home.

Community helps couple rise from the ashes after fire

By JENALEA MYERS, Herald Staff Writer

GREELEY — Dean and Karen Register describe their house fire as a blessing in disguise.

A December fire took their Greeley home, their personal belongings, antiques and quilt collections.

But in less than five months, the Registers have moved back into their house — now completely remodeled — with help from the Greeley community.

“A real catastrophe turned out to be a blessing in some ways,” Dean Register said.

Total loss

The Registers had about five minutes to escape their house at 33720 N.E. Wilson Road when it ignited at about 1 a.m. Dec. 30.

“When you live out in the country, it takes pretty near a miracle to save a house,” Dean Register, an Anderson County commissioner, said.

Area fire departments responded to the fire, which started with an overheated electrical heater, but the house was declared a total loss.

“It’s a funny feeling to know that once you walk out, there won’t be anything there for you to go back to,” Karen Register said.

Local help

Help for the Registers began right away, with numerous families offering places to stay.

“We can’t say enough about the help,” Dean Register said. “Everybody has been great.”

Remodeling allowed the Registers to think about changes they wanted to see in the house, new features they wanted to add.

“My niece and I prepared meals and brought them to the volunteers,” Karen Register said.

“Somedays we had eight to 10 people working on it,” Dean Register added.

Insurance money and several local benefits and fundraisers helped the Registers with their new home.

“We’ve had lots of good friends and community support,” Karen Register said.

New home

The Registers moved into their home May 22.

“It’s kind of overwhelming,” Karen Register said of adjusting to the new house.

And now that they’re moved in, the Registers can restart the collections they lost. Dean had about 30 churns, while Karen had dozens of quilts.

“Now that we’re done with the house, maybe we’ll have some more time to go to sales and look,” he said.

Despite what they’ve lost, the Registers said they’re focusing on the positives.

“We got out alive, and that was the main thing,” Dean Register said.

Jenalea Myers can be e-mailed at jmyers@ottawaherald.com